Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink has revealed he played a key role in Arsenal's capture of Andrey Arshavin. In January, he convinced Arsene Wenger that Arshavin would be a success in the Barclays Premier League. The Gunners eventually snapped the Zenit St Petersburg forward up for £15million.

"Me and Wenger have known each other from a previous meeting when Arsenal played against my PSV in the Champions League," Hiddink told the Daily Mail.

"So he called me to find out more about Andrey as a person. Wenger wanted to know my opinion whether Arshavin would fit into a new set-up.

"Of course, it was Wenger's own decision. But I probably helped him to take it a bit.

"The clubs were close to signing the deal and Wenger asked for my humble point of view.

"It's likely that I pushed him slightly to saying his final 'yes'. But not more than that."